Uber Driver Rapes Unconscious Passenger:  An habitual felon has been charged with raping a passenger who fell unconscious as he was driving her home.  Richard Winton Richard of the Los Angeles Times reports that Alaric Spence has been arrested for the June 26 kidnapping and sexual assault of the 24-year-old passenger.  After the passenger passed out in the back seat, Spence, who has five felony drug priors, drove to a motel and was caught on security video carrying her into a room.  While California law forbids hiring drivers who have had a felony conviction within seven years, in 2014 California's Proposition 47 converted most drug and property felonies to misdemeanors.  Any recent convictions Spence may have gotten for stealing a gun or TV, or transporting less than $900 worth of drugs, would not have been reported to Uber.  Earlier this month an Uber driver in the Bay Area was arrested for sexual battery of a passenger.  In April another Uber driver was arrested for the rape of a woman he picked up in Newport Beach.